I decided this season it would be beneficial to travel to warmer climates in order to increase my training volume especially outdoors and off the trainer. I drove down during the last week of January where I was welcomed with 70 to 80 degree weather and sunny skies. That lasted for about a week where I had a huge mental boost and my tanlines were defined. Soon, the temperature would drop slightly but still allowed me to ride without combating the rain. My training consisted of: higher volume, cruise intervals, some bursts or sprints, and climbing. The terrain around the area is mostly hilly, some flats that meander through the strawberry fields, and mild rollers that bypass the vineyards. After about two weeks of training and getting the legs opened up, I had my first race of the season.
BOULEVARD ROAD RACE
My first race was the Boulevard Road Race on February 7th. It was located about an hour east of San Diego right on the Mexican border. My Uncle decided to help out and drove down with me the day of the race. When arriving at the staging area I had some mixed emotions. The rain was holding off temporarily but the clouds were undoubtedly going to unleash some drops. After signing in, it did just that. It was a mild rain with temps in the 30’s to 40’s. After trying to dress appropriately I lined up at the start line only to be welcomed with huge snowflakes. Snowflakes in Southern Cali!!! Who knew! The race was started and the peloton rolled out of the small parking lot. Immediately, the spray from tires and falling snow soaked me to the core. On the first lap, I tried going with a couple small breaks primarily to try and stay warm. But nothing really stuck and the peloton re-grouped. By the end of the first lap, I attempted to go on another break on the climbing segment of the course. It seemed to go fairly well and the legs were feeling strong. But by the time we crested the hill the strung out group had bunched back up. The second lap seemed much more miserable. As we descended through the bitter cold, my body began to shake almost uncontrollably and the fingers were turning numb. By the time we finished the second lap I had to pull out of the race as I couldn’t endure another downhill in the cold. I was quite concerned that I was just going to shake like a leaf right off the bike. I couldn’t feel my shifters and couldn’t tell if I was actually pulling on the brakes. I jumped in the truck, heater full blast, and bummed out. I really wanted to finish the race. The mind was definitely willing but the body unable due to the cold. It’s obvious that I learned a lesson the hard way and should definitely overdress if need be the next time I line up for a race in which it is snowing! My Uncle and I drove back to Laguna Niguel where I spent an extra day visiting with him and my Aunt. It was a bit of a haul to not finish the race but I was already chomping at the bit to begin the next one to redeem myself and have the season started off right.
SNELLING ROAD RACE
After another two weeks of training back in Nipomo and thawing out the body, I would race the Snelling Road Race located just outside of Merced. I was using this race as a tuneup race for the upcoming Merco Credit Union race and to get some more intensity in the legs. It was a fairly large field of 122 riders. The beginning of the race had about four miles of neutral before the lead motorcyclist waved his green flag and we were off. The pace picked up dramatically and the group was strung out single file for the first lap. Several breakaway attempts were made by me and others throughout the first couple of laps but it was obvious that the group did not want anything to get away. I decided that it would be best to just stick myself right in the front portion of the main group and work on pack position throughout the rest of the race. By the last lap, I was stuck right in the middle as the pace picked up and I couldn’t move up as easily. The finish came immediately after a sandy right hand turn where I ended up 56th on the day where the average speed for the entire race was about 28 mph. I wasn’t too ecstatic about the result but I was happy with my ability to move around in the pack, my break attempts, and my power numbers. So far the strength was improving and mentally I was getting a nice boost.
MERCO CREDIT UNION FOOTHILLS ROAD RACE
(Merco Credit Union photo courtesy of Lyne Lamoureux)
I returned to Nipomo that evening, unpacked, and hit the sack immediately. I had about one more week of training in Nipomo, before returning back to Bend, which included riding outside and on the trainer due to the poor weather conditions. My next race was the Merco Credit Union Foothills Road Race just outside of Merced and in the same area as the Snelling Road Race. However, the Merco race was significantly longer at 120 miles versus the 86 miles. The Merco race was five laps on the 24 mile flat to rolling loop. There was a decent turnout of riders which totaled approximately 135. The field had riders from BMC, Bissell, Rock Racing, California Berry Giant, Colavita, and others.
(Merco Credit Union photo courtesy of Lyne Lamoureux)
The peloton rolled out at 9 in the morning in which we started the race off with a fairly quick speed. Once again, just like Snelling, there were quite a few breakaway attempts throughout the race. Only this time the breaks were much bigger and consistently had about 15-25 guys. I attempted to bridge to one of the first breaks of the day which had about 15 guys. The peloton slowed slightly when I decided to sprint off the front. Immediately, a Bissell rider covered my attack along with three other riders that I had pulled up to the break. As I made it to the tail end of the break, I was pretty gassed. Two guys peeled off in front of me right as I made contact which spelled out a failed attempt to stay with the group. I sat up after failing to make the break and was quickly absorbed into the main field. However, I shot straight to the back as I had burned a pretty big match. It was almost as if I could barely hang on for the rest of the first lap. I managed to stay on and recover and moved back up to the front half of the peloton. I concluded that the legs weren’t really feeling up to attempting any more breaks for the day so I just sat in the rest of the day keeping position toward the front. Throughout the race, several larger break attempts were made but everything was brought back. No team was really happy with the riders in each break. When we came around for the last lap a break was still a minute or so in front of the peloton. California Giant was up front hammering away and brought it back within the last 5 kilometers of the race. As an unattached rider, this allowed for a chance to sprint it out at the finish. Once the break was caught the field eventually strung out single file again. Up front was California Giant driving the pace, then Bissell right behind, then me. I really focused on trying to gain a decent position up front while approaching the last few slight hills before the subtle downhill finish. It began to get a little crazier at the front of the group as we crested the last rise with the finish line in site. There was a bit of chaos as the group sprinted toward the line with the announcer yelling and encouraging the riders. I didn’t have much left in the legs for the sprint but ended up top 20 in 17th. I was fairly happy with the result but re-played the finish in my head several times while spinning down just thinking “if only”. It was another great mental boost knowing that I could decently finish that long of a race with that many good cyclists. It feels like my legs are definitely starting off the season very well and I am hungry for more racing.
(Merco Credit Union photo courtesy of Lyne Lamoureux)
Here are some links to articles regarding the Merco:
Daily Peloton
http://www.dailypeloton.com/displayarticle.asp?pk=14288
Cyclingnews
http://www.cyclingnews.com/road.php?id=road/2009/mar09/merco09/merco094
The next races on the schedule will be the San Dimas stage race and hopefully Redlands Classic if things plan out correctly. I will be training for about two weeks in Bend, prepping for the two big races, before heading back down to the warmer climates of Southern Cali. So for now it appears I will be back on the trainer for a while waiting for the sun to show itself and for the snow to let up a bit.
